Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans
by n33n
Summary: The story of just how many times and how many ways James Potter asks out Miss Lily Evans and his attempt to win Lily's heart...read about his great trials and horrid errors...enjoy! thanks.
1. The Normal Way

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: Good day everyone! This has been in my notebook for a while and I've decided to give it a shot…hmm…feedback on whether or not to continue this please! Thanks.

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**Chapter One: The Normal Way**

"Go for it, Prongsie!" Sirius egged on as James grinned. Today, (September 18th) was _the_ day.

After days of pranking the girl, James had finally declared that he was in love with her. Yes indeed, today was _the _day. No doubt about it.

James walked up to the pretty red-head reading by the lake and tapped her on the shoulder. The rest of the Marauders were loyally trailing behind silently.

"Care to go out with me, Evans?" James asked nonchalantly, a smug smirk in place.

"No," Lily did not even look up to see who it was.

James blinked in confusion, the smirk wiped away. "But it's me—James Potter. You know—the incredible Quidditch prodigy and the guy with the godly body."

James glanced back at his friends and noticed Remus shaking his head rather fast and muttering 'no' over and over again.

"What?" James mouthed, annoyed, as his hand shot straight up to rumple his hair.

Remus just sighed.

At this time, Lily looked up to face James. Her normal smiling face was replaced with a look of frustration.

"Potter—three things. One, I don't care much about Quidditch, two, you do **not** have a _godly_ body, and three, I don't care much about you either, now do I?" Lily said with complete apathy and looked back down to resume reading her book.

James stood there, completely stunned at what she just said.

Finally words came to him. "You don't like _Quidditch_? How can that possibly be?" he asked, astounded that anyone could dare say such a thing.

Sirius snorted loudly behind him and along with Remus and Peter, came out into view from the tree and dragged James back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You don't like _Quidditch_?" Sirius mimicked in a high voice, chortling as they stepped through the entrance.

Remus chuckled lightly. "Important matters to Prongs, I reckon."

"I—I just can't believe that Evans said that, you know. Merlin! How could she say that she didn't like Quidditch to _me_? I mean, the bloody game—it's _amazing_! How can anyone not like it?" James said, still in shock, shaking his head in disbelief occasionally.

Remus laughed. "You don't care that you've gotten your first rejection?"

"Nope," was James's quick and cheerful answer.

Sirius shook his head as he mouthed to Remus, "A bit thick. Hope he'll turn out all right in the end." Remus and Sirius snickered.

Suddenly, James stopped smiling. "Wait a minute! That's right—she _did _reject me!"

"Took you long enough," Sirius sighed at how slow James was.

"Pad darling?"

"Yes, m'dear Prongsie?"

"Shut up."

Sirius feigned a hurt look as he dodged a pillow shot by James.

"I'm serious, though. Why did she reject me?" James pondered out loud as he flopped onto his bed, feeling slightly depressed.

"No, no, Prongsie, you've got it wrong! _I'm_ Sirius, remember?" Sirius grinned cheekily. (Ah, what's a story without the 'Sirius/Serious' pun? I know it gets old…but it's a classic, don't you think?..)

"Padfoot, shut the _hell_ up," James said through gritted teeth. "Answers, anyone? Intelligent answers, mind you," James added, glancing at Sirius who opened his mouth to protest.

Remus was the first to speak. "Well, maybe your way of asking her out was wrong. Lily _is _a unique girl so you should probably try a different tactic."

"Tactics! You make it sound like war," James laughed.

"It is war, Prongs," Remus said solemnly.

"Ooh—what if she likes the whiny kind of guys?" Sirius interrupted, eyes bright.

James snorted and asked sarcastically, "What, should I hang onto the hems of her robe and start bawling?"

"You _do_ want her, right?" Sirius asked casually, flicking a strand of his ebony hair back in place.

James paled as he saw that Sirius was not joking. "You don't mean—you don't really, _possibly _mean—"

Sirius's eyes glittered as he spoke lightly, "Actually, I _do, really, possibly _mean that, Prongsie."

"You _really _want me to do that?" James asked, bewildered.

"Yes. We're going to use every single method we can think of to win Miss Lily Evans over," Sirius grinned rather evilly.

Remus nodded in agreement. "Actually, I do think that Padfoot here has a point. We should try every approach. I'm sure one will be a winner."

"Exactly!" Sirius beamed.

"I think so too," Peter piped up.

"Fine," James glared at the happy Sirius.

"Excellent," Sirius grinned.

"Now, to begin…perhaps she _does _like the whiny type? What should you do?" Sirius demanded.

"Er—well, I've never thought of it," said James as he swept through his hair.

"This is where _acting_ skills come in, dear Prongs," Sirius said, flinging his arms up in exasperation.

"Oh. You mean like this?" James asked as he lunged for Sirius's robes, knocking him over.

"_Evans!_ Oh, Evans, could you _please_ make me the happiest man on earth and _please_ go out with me? Just say yes and save me from this bottomless misery," James sobbed out as he hung on to the edge of Sirius's robes.

"Prongs, get the hell off of me!" Sirius swatted wildly at James who continued to cling onto Sirius's robes. Sirius then began attempting to jump up and down, knocking James's head against the bed.

"Oh, _please_, Evans! _Please_ say yes," James said tearfully between bounces and whacks. Remus had conjured up two peeled onions in the background.

"Gerroff me!" Sirius growled as he decided to go with violence and kicked James in the shoulder.

James however, looked delighted. "Was that right?" he asked, still clutching on.

"Yes, but don't use me as a prop next time, all right? You gave me a good scare there," Sirius said, irritated. He then pried James's hands off of his leg.

"Remember, Prongs, **_never_** let go of her, **no** **matter** what she says or does," Sirius reminded him as he flicked off imaginary specks of dirt off his cloak.

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Author's Note:

Hmm…I haven't really decided which other ways I should get James to ask Lily out. Any suggestions? Read and review please! Thanks!

Oh yes, keep Sirius's reminder in mind, will you? I'll add a note at the top of the next chapter to refresh your memory as well.

Much love,

neen


	2. Whines and Injuries

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: Well, James decides to go along with Remus's theory and Sirius's suggestion of being a whiny person. Let's see what happens.. 

**Note: if you don't remember Sirius's reminder to James at the end of Chapter One: The Normal Way, please refer to this: **

"Remember, Prongs, **_never_** let go of her, **no** **matter** what she says or does," Sirius reminded him as he flicked off imaginary specks of dirt off his cloak.

Enjoy!

Showers of hugs to **obsessivescottishdemocrat and prongs is mine **for putting me on their favorites list and **obsessivescottishdemocrat and phantom radio** for putting this story onto their alert list! You guys are wonderful! Thanks so much.

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**Chapter Two: Whines and Injuries **

James had remembered Sirius's words (look up at the author note in case you forgot) when he went to pursue Ms. Evans the very next morning during breakfast.

"_Evans_!" James shouted happily as he flung his arms around an angered Lily. The toast in her hand fell to the table, the jam sticking on.

"Potter! What are you _doing_? Get your nasty hands off of me!" Lily glared at him.

"Evans, _please_ open your saintly mouth and _please_ use your heavenly voice to _please _agree to go out with me," James's eyes began to tear up as his eyes felt the sting of the onions hidden in his robe pocket.

"Eurgh—Potter, let go of my robes!" Lily glowered, extremely frustrated. Then she cast a suspicious look at him. "Do you smell onions?"

"Oh, come on, Evans! _Please _go out with me, please, please, please," James whined endlessly as he clung to the bottom of Lily's robe.

"Don't let go, whatever she does, don't let go," James muttered to himself as Lily began sprinting back and forth to the ends of the long table, trying to shake James off. James was yelling continuously "GO OUT WITH ME, EVANS!" as she did so.

Silence overcame them as a rip seemed to roar across the room. All eyes were on James and Lily.

Lily eyes grew wide as the bottom portion of her robes got ripped off. James smacked the floor with a deafening thud as all he was left with was a part of Lily's robes.

Let's just say it was a good thing that people wore pants under the robes and that it was _most_ unfortunate that the floor was made out of concrete.

Lily hid a smile as she saw that James's glasses were broken in two places and that his nose was rather red from contact with the rigid floor.

"Go out with me?" James mustered out to her one more time before unconscious gradually took over him.

"I think he wasa whiny person all along," Sirius commented as the rest of the Marauders surrounded James's bed in the Hospital Wing.

James had kept on asking Lily out in his stupor, begging desperately each time.

James then made a wild grab at Sirius's hand, and had a strong grip on it. Sirius yelped. "What's the matter with you, you idiot?"

"C'mon, just go out with me. One time," James mumbled.

"This was all a bad idea and the fact that I'm just too dead sexy for my own good isn't helping much. Poor Prongs, torn between his attraction for me and Evans. But…NO! Now wake up before I'm going to be scarred for the rest of my life," Sirius prodded James's hand sharply with the tip of his wand so that James would let go.

Sirius gently massaged his own arm, wincing slightly as James woke up.

"Hey—Ev—wait—where am I? Where did Evans go? Did she say yes? How was I? Attractive right?" James immediately bombarded his friends with questions.

"Hospital Wing—Common Room—no—no words to describe the horror: you _fainted_—not attractive at all," Remus filled in as he shook his head.

"I what! _Fainted_? In front of her?" James spluttered in disbelief.

"Yes, **and** you broke your nose **and** your glasses, making you look like the complete idiot that you are," Sirius said, smiling broadly.

"Thanks, Pad, thanks," James said sarcastically, throwing him a glare.

"Any time, my friend," Sirius continued to smile, not taking in James's sarcasm.

"You're fine now, except for that annoyingly large and bright red mark on your nose that Madam Pomphrey said that you were going to have for about a day since she refused to magic away such a she-said-and-I-quote, 'adorable clown nose'," informed Remus.

"Hand me a mirror!" James demanded, a note of panic rising in his voice.

"_Hand me a mirror_!" Sirius chuckled. "Dear Prongsie, you sound like an extremely vain…how should I put this? You sound like an extremely vain…girl."

James ignored Sirius as he looked at his reflection.

"Ouch, that's a veryugly, horrifying mark you got there, dear," the mirror said directly.

"I _know_ that," James glared as he chucked the mirror at Sirius.

"This was _all_ your foul suggestion! Look at me! I'm a complete wreck! How is Evans supposed to fall to my feet now?" James asked, completely annoyed.

"Now, Prongsie, I was only trying to help," Sirius pouted.

James sighed and said gruffly, "I know."

"I _knew_ that you always loved me in that great big heart of yours!" Sirius grinned as he flicked James's nose.

James threw a disgusted look at him. "_Honestly_."

Remus was the only one that was calm. "I presume that we should think about another tactic to win over Lily."

James sat up and nodded firmly. "Yes. A _smarter_ approach as well," James said as he glanced over at Sirius and rubbed his sore nose.

Sirius ducked down, pretending to be very interested in the color of the hospital sheets. "My…_lavender_! I do think that I should get these for my bed…delightful color, don't you think?"

"Maybe she likes the quiet type…just ask her out quietly, nothing extravagant or loud," Peter suggested as they all ignored Sirius.

"You have a point there. Evans didn't really like it when she had to literally run away from me in front of everyone, now did she?" James said thoughtfully, absently rubbing his nose even redder.

"Exactly," Remus agreed.

"Stop it, Prongs! You look like that cracked-up Rudolphus reindeer from the muggle Christmas stories," Sirius swiped at James's hand to stop him from rubbing his nose.

James just grinned. They had a new plan.

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Author's note: 

_Well_. I had fun thinking about these 'tactics' as Remus calls them. It _does_ sound like war, doesn't it? Anyways, if you have any other ideas, I'll be more than happy to write about them. Don't worry, the quiet one won't last long and there will be better ones…I hope.

Read and review please!

Much love,

neen

**reviewers**:

wow! I got reviews on the very first chapter! Wahoo! Thanks you guys.

: _The Big Dance_ : my first reviewer! Congrats, congrats! I'm glad you liked the reminder…it was put to use in this chapter..

:_vu lay vu _: Haha, thanks. I try to be funny at times.

: _phantom radio_ : thank you so much for trying out all my stories! You're wonderful. Yes, I was thinking about that too…I think I will finish the 'verbal' ways before I resort to 'written' ones…but yes, love letters will be a biggie later on…and I will be sure to add in some cheesy pick-up lines! Thanks!

: _Owl and Crow_ : thanks! Here's the more you want…hope you enjoy it as well!

Thank you soo soo much!


	3. Please, Potter

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: James tries a different approach—quieter. Doesn't sound exciting does it? It's not really, which is why I added another approach in here to spiffy it up some. Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

**

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Chapter Three: Please, Potter

The next day, James's red mark on his nose finally faded away, thus giving him courage to ask Lily out again.

Quieter this time, of course.

He spotted Lily's flaming red hair by the fire, calmly reading. She always seemed to be doing that whenever he asked her out.

"Psst, Evans!" James nearly whispered.

"Hmm? Yes?" Lily didn't bother to look up.

"Will you go out with me?" James did whisper this time.

"What?" Lily looked up and saw James to her surprise. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I know, shocking isn't it? The great James Potter asking you out. A huge honor, I know," James whispered loudly while nodding and giving her a pompous wave.

Lily nearly snorted but caught herself. "Potter. I already told you, I don't like you. Go annoy someone else or something." She then resumed reading her book.

Knowing that he would not get a 'yes' from her again, James retreated upstairs to the boys' dormitory, where the rest of the Marauders were anticipating his return.

"Well?" Remus prompted.

"Still a no. I don't know what's wrong with her, you know. She's acting as if I'm not a big deal or something," James frowned. "I am a big deal, aren't I?"

"You keep thinking that, dear Prongsie," Sirius grinned, clamping his hand on James's shoulder.

James gave Sirius a scowl at his response.

"Anyways. I should suppose that Evans _does_ like the loudness. I should give her some extra attention, shouldn't I?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "Your idea, not ours."

"You guys are supposed to be my friends—you know, _supportive_. Where did all the loyalty and encouragement go?" James grumbled, staring each of his friends down. They all looked away and Sirius was staring at the bed sheets, a habit he had picked up these days.

"All right. So, attention…how do I give her attention?" James asked, raking his brain furiously, choosing to ignore his unhelpful friends.

"Are you even James Potter? You _are _attention! You know, pranks and all that—you know how to get attention!" Sirius rolled his eyes at the stupidity of James's question.

"Oh yeah. That's right. So—wait, I got it! It's going to be perfect…she's _clear_ to say yes," James grinned broadly.

Remus and Sirius both shook their heads behind an oblivious James.

"Tomorrow—at lunch. You'll see," James said, a determined glint in his eyes.

"He's gone nuts!" Peter said, staring at James in awe as James started rapidly scribbling down his plan on a scrap parchment.

Sirius peeked over James's shoulder, boggling at the squiggles and dots James was drawing. "_That_ is your brilliant plan?" he chortled.

James just responded by sticking his feather quill up Sirius's nose.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"_Sonorus_!" James said and his voice immediately magnified. He stood at the front of the professors' table and stood on a chair.

"MAY I HAVE YOUR DIVINE ATTENTION? I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK OF ONE EXTREMELY LUCKY GIRL BY THE NAME OF EVANS! LILY EVANS!" James had shouted in addition to his magnified voice, which resounded in the room.

Everyone stopped filling their plates to listen. Most of the faces wore amused expressions. Except for one.

James tapped his wand on the wall and a great banner appeared.

"LILY EVANS—WILL YOU LET ME ALLOW YOU THE HONOR OF GOING OUT WITH ME?" James read off the banner.

"EVANS! GO OUT WITH ME!" James's voice suddenly became very shrill and high. People cringed at the sound.

"NO, POTTER!" Lily yelled back and laughed, flourishing her wand like a baton twirler.

"Evans! What did you do to me?" James's shrill voice called out.

James then took the 'Sonorus' voice off and came up to a grinning Lily.

"Evans—change my voice back," James demanded.

"You forgot the magic word, Potter," Lily smirked.

"I don't know it!" James's voice, if possible, went even higher. "That's why I asked _you_ to take it off for me!"

Lily sighed. "Say _please_, Potter."

James blinked. "_Please_, Potter," he repeated.

Lily flung her arms up in frustration. "You—are—insufferable! _Honestly_!" With each word, she stabbed her wand into James's shoulder blade. At the word 'honestly', she prodded her wand at him repeatedly. Finally she stopped, took the spell off, and walked off, fuming.

"What did I do wrong _that_ time?" James moaned to Remus who had walked up to him.

"I don't think she likes attention much, Prongs," Remus said lightly, patting James on the back for comfort.

"Women—so hard to understand. They're difficult, the whole lot," James muttered angrily.

"You're not giving up _now_, are you?" Remus asked quickly.

"No, of course not! I've gotten this far, haven't I?" James said.

"Erm—sorry for bursting your bubble, but I don't think you've gotten very far," Remus muttered.

"Well, at least I've gotten _somewhere_. I'm not at zero, now am I?" James shrugged it off.

"Erm—well, I think—I think that you've gotten, erm—_worse_. She looks like she _hates_ you now," Remus said, trying to be sensitive.

"Oh." James looked troubled now. "Well, what do you reckon I should do to get on her good side?"

"A new—" Remus started.

"—tactic," James finished.

"Exactly," Remus nodded.

"But the question is—_what else can I do_?" James sighed with exasperation, his mind completely blank.

"Well, there _is_ one thing you haven't tried yet," Remus began.

"What? Tell me, Moony," James said.

"Have—have you ever tried being _romantic_ to her?" Remus asked.

"Romantic?" James repeated. "What else do you call what I did for her today?"

"Idiotic bravery," Remus murmured ever so quietly.

James didn't hear and went on in his rant. "_Romantic_! As if I'm not already! Why, that Hufflepuff--at least I _think_she was a Hufflepuff--girl with the blonde hair and hazel eyes—she says I'm _darling_! If you're darling then you _have_ to be romantic, right? Same thing. I'm already romantic, Moony," James said stubbornly.

Remus sighed. He was not in the mood to argue with James. "All right, listen Prongs. You _are _romantic already, okay?" James's face lit up. "_But_ you need to be even _more_ romantic! Take a look at Sirius—he knows how to treat a girl. Lily's heart isn't really all that cold, Prongs. She might seem like an ice queen but if you show her a little romance, she'll soften up and things will be better."

"Oh. Does that mean that _Paddy_ might have to be my—my _mentor_?" James asked in a horrified voice.

Remus smirked. "No, of course not, Prongs. What are you saying? He **_is_** going to be."

A small thud was heard as James fainted onto the concrete ground for the second time in three days.

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Author's Note:

Poor James…_another_ fainting spell. Well…we'll see how the tutoring goes with Sirius and James…

Suggestions? Thanks!

Read and review please!

**Reviewers: **

: s_iriuspadfoot_ : thanks! It's all right…I still have some ideas…

: _phantom radio_ : ahh, my most devoted reviewer! It's rather scary…we seem to have the same ideas…I _have_ thought of him giving Lily gifts…and I think I will use that. Thanks! Ohh…I love the idea of him serenading Lily with a song…we'll see if I have any bad-song writing abilities...Yes, yes, arrogant Sirius, but I love him all the same! Thanks for the review.

: _Owl and Crow_ : Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Many thanks to _Mavrik _for putting this story on the story alert list! Thanks! **

**And of course, hugs to _phantom radio_ who put me on the favorites list! Thanks so much!**


	4. A Love Lesson

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: Poor James…he faints yet again…and is (at first) in the Hospital Wing. Sirius is now James's tutor on how to be more romantic and then by _chance_ (not really) finds Lily. Ahh…we'll see how it goes.

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

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**Chapter Four: A Love Lesson**

"BLOODY CONCRETE FLOOR! PUT SOME STUPID CUSHIONS OR SOME DAMN CARPET AT LEAST!" James roared angrily, stuck yet again in the Hospital Wing. He had sat up and had begun punching a pillow.

"Quiet down some, Potter! _Language_!" Madam Pomfrey came into view, shaking a finger at him dangerously.

"Yes, Poppy," James said sulkily, placing the pillow back.

"Ahh, _Prongsie snookums_! How _are_ you today? I'm sure you got the news," Sirius grinned widely.

"Sod off, Paddy. I'm not in the mood to see you bask in your great-oh-merlin-I'm-the-tutor-of-the-oh-so-great-James-Potter-on-how-to-be-romantic," James said, slightly irritated.

Sirius looked bewildered. "I am? Since when? Merlin! This is exciting!"

James blinked. "What? Then what news?"

"Well, you _were_ going to be paired up with your dear Evans today during Potions, but due to your woeful absence, _I _had the honor of pairing off with her," Sirius grinned.

James's jaw dropped. "You're _joking_!"

"Nope, I am most definitely not. What can I say? It was a Friday and the Potions master had, I daresay, a bit too much Firewhisky last night. To add to that, we got top marks. Now. Are _you_ joking about the whole me being your love tutor thing?" Sirius asked, a small smirk dancing at the corners.

James was flushed with embarrassment. "It was all Moony's idea. He said that you were going to be my mentor on how to be more romantic to win over Evans…since you know girls all that well." James said the last part with pure venom, glaring at Sirius.

"Oh, I don't doubt that, Prongs. I have _charm_! Girls worship the shoes I walk in. In fact that Jacqueline girl stole one of the shoes I have, and I've heard that she sleeps with it under her pillow," Sirius said cheerfully, unaware to James's glare.

"Fine. As soon as I get out of this bloody place, you're going to tutor me. And you better teach me well," James growled.

"Relax, Prongs. I'm a natural and I'm a _great_ teacher," Sirius flexed his muscles and checked his behind in the mirror hanging on the wall, to the very disgust of James. "Yes, my arse is still very nice looking. Marvelous, might I add. I was dreading that I sat on that bloody broomstick too long."

"Stop that Padfoot. I'm a heterosexual, thank you very much. No need to practice your charisma on me," James said, revolted.

"I was just _checking_, Prongs! No need to get your knickers up in a knot!" Sirius whined, still peeking at his behind in the mirror. James was only glad that the mirror didn't say anything for once.

Too bad for him.

"Ooh, you have a _very_ nice behind, darling. It's a delightful thing," the mirror said in a flirty voice, letting out a shrill giggle.

Sirius beamed and went on the say, "Yes, yes, I do believe so myself!"

James groaned loudly as Sirius launched into a deep conversation about Sirius's arse with the mirror.

He slammed his head under the pillow and muffled his hearing, not even bothering to take off his glasses. James finally went slept after the noises and giggles faded away.

"Morning, Prongs! It's ever _so_ delightful to have you back in the room again. First things first. Eat up," Sirius beamed as he poured a tremendously large bucket of muddy and icy water he had nicked from the lake. A huge chunk of ice hit James in the eye, breaking the glasses he didn't take off. For once, he was glad he did that, for he was saved from a black eye.

"Blergh! What _is_ this?" James asked, appalled, as he held up a chewed out…thing.

"Actually, I have no idea. I think that you might enjoy eating it. Looks tasty, doesn't it? It might be the breakfast of the Giant Squid I stole from the lake," Sirius said brightly.

James looked like he was about to throw up.

Remus sighed as he magicked away the mess. "You lot—get real. Start the lessons already."

"Yes, yes…now how do you address your betters?" Sirius prompted, twirling his wand expertly.

"Betters! _Betters_! Why—you!" James glowered as he dived for Sirius.

"Nutters! I'm your teacher now, Prongs! Of _course _I'm your better!" Sirius said as he hid from James behind Remus.

"STOP! STOP! You—Prongs, just call him Professor Black and you—Padfoot, you are _not_ his better. Happy?"

"Yes," Sirius and James chorused in unison.

"Professor B. So, where do we start?" James asked smartly.

"Why, Prongsie dear, I think that we shall start with an example, and you'll follow. Come, let's go to the Common Room," Sirius said, gesturing towards the door.

"You're making me learn my lessons in front of _people_?" James asked, horrified.

Sirius nodded. "Yes. The _people_ are going to be props."

James gulped.

"Now, watch carefully," Sirius directed as he walked up to a pretty blonde girl sitting on the couch in the Common Room. She was talking to her friend and immediately let out a nervous laugh as she saw Sirius.

"How _are_ you today, my pretty thing?" Sirius asked seductively.

"F-fine, how're you?" the girl stuttered as she blushed furiously, her hands twisting her robes fretfully.

"Well, I wasn't feeling that great, but ever since I met you, my sicknesses and worry's gone. You're my cure, darling," Sirius flashed her his famous killer smile.

"Oh dear, you were sick?" the girl asked in a worried tone, placing her head on his forehead.

Sirius took this chance and snogged her. The girl eagerly returned it and it turned to be a heated snog session on the couch. The girl's friend stormed off, apparently angry and had burst into tears.

James had stopped watching long ago after the "Oh dear, you were sick?" He shook his head. Girls were that easy to get? Maybe he should try that with Evans. James went off to find Lily using the ever so handy Marauder's Map.

"Aha."

"Oy, Evans!" he called after Lily's figure in the corridor.

Lily paused and turned back. Then, noticing that it was James, went on and resumed walking.

"Wait—Evans! Where are you going?" James asked as he caught up to her with ease.

"Library," Lily said curtly.

"Oh, yes, I'm going there too," James said quickly, still striding with her.

Lily stopped walking. "Why?"

"Erm—why what?" James had just noticed that Lily stopped.

"Why are you going to the library? You're a Marauder. You never go," Lily said, glancing at James suspiciously.

"Er—er—yes I do!" James said furiously. "I'm—I'm going to check out some stuff there."

"Oh really?" Lily asked, amused, her face etched in skepticism.

James nodded rapidly and followed Lily to the library.

"So, _this_ is where it is," James muttered under his breath as soon as he saw the library.

Lily had heard and smirked.

Lily was wandering everywhere, looking at different subjects and had piled her books on top of James outstretched arms.

"So, erm, Evans, how are you?" James asked, catching a book Lily had thrown at him to pile up.

"Just dandy. You?" Lily said absently, running her fingers over the spine of _Hogwarts, A History_.

"Er—actually, I was feeling quite ill until I met you. You're my ah—_cure_," James said, smirking. This was going to be easy.

"Thank goodness it's still here," Lily muttered after checking inside _Hogwarts, A History _as she piled _Hogwarts, A History_ on top of the ever growing pile.

"You're glad about a book being available?" James asked, astonished.

"Cure? Really. That's something new," Lily said, not looking at James. She rested her hand on another book.

James frowned and forgot about the book. "Wait, that's not right, you're supposed to put your hand on my forehead and say something like, 'Oh Merlin! You poor thing! _Sick_?'"

"Potter. _Honestly_," Lily rolled her eyes.

"How am I supposed to snog you then?" James demanded, annoyed.

"I _thought_ you were going to check out some stuff. Why aren't you?" Lily asked, ignoring James's question.

"I did already. I was checking _you_ out," James said, smirking broadly. (thanks to _phantom radio_ for the idea! More bad pick-up lines in the next chapters!)

Lily flushed with anger. "Potter. That's enough. Give me my books back—I'm leaving."

"Hey—Evans—but wait, where's my kiss?" James called after her as she grabbed her books and almost ran up to Madam Pince to check out.

"Damn," James muttered.

Lily then left in a hurry, leaving behind a book.

Madam Pince barked after her, but she had already left.

"You, boy—I've never seen you in here before—who are you?" Madam Pince asked shrewdly, pushing up her glasses.

"James Potter. I'm erm—that girl's boyfriend. She's in denial," James said confidently.

"Ah, I see. Be a good boy and give this to her. She left it in her hurry," Madam Pince handed James the book. It was _Hogwarts, A History_.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hmm…wonder what's inside the book? Vanishing Galleons to whoever gets it right!

Ahh…what a lovely love lesson from Sirius. shakes head

Read and review please!

Thanks.

Much love,

Neen

**Reviewers**:

: _frilge_ : Thanks for the compliments! Here's your update! I hope you liked it.


	5. Evans's Bladder Problem

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

* * *

Author's note: What will James find in the book _Hogwarts, A History_? Hmm…let's see, shall we?

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Five: Evans's Bladder Problem**

James had tried to track down Lily the whole day, but to no avail. During the thirteen times he had consulted the Marauder's Map to see where she was, she was always located in the girls' bathroom. There was just no way that he could possibly give the book to her when she was in there. Besides, James concluded, Lily had a very bad bladder problem.

"Yes, that'd be doing her a favor—not letting anyone else know that she had a bladder problem. I'm becoming more aware of people's feelings," James thought, a small smile at his lips.

"What are you thinking about, Prongsie?" Sirius asked, almost bouncing in with energy.

"Nothing. As if I would ever tell you that Evans has problems with her bladder," James snapped quickly.

"She _what_?" Sirius asked, completely astounded.

James looked confused before he replayed his words in his head. "Damn!" he cursed loudly.

"Blimey! _Evans_! Wait—how would _you_ know? Haven't been sneaking to see her in girls' bathrooms, have you?" Sirius narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "That's called _stalking_, Prongsie! _Well_?"

"No, no! It's just that each time I look at the Marauder's Map, she's in Myrtle's bathroom. Now, you tell me—does she have a bladder problem or not?" James asked.

"Actually, the 'well' I said was meant for you to ask me to give you some help on how to stalk people. But—well, erm—maybe she's fixing a regurgitating toilet!" Sirius offered.

"Yes, that's where Evans becomes a carekeeper, getting Filch out of business, eh?" James said coolly.

Sirius shrugged, not a trace of embarrassment. "Just an idea."

James coughed something that sounded very much like 'stupid idea'.

Sirius glared at him, since he heard due to his canine sense of keen hearing.

James looked thoughtful as he just remembered something. "You know, Evans was muttering about this book some in the library today. I just can't seem to remember what she said about it."

"Well, open it up and start reading it. Evans might like you somewhat once you put some of these facts into your empty brain," Sirius said quite simply and rather discreetly, took out some Dungbombs. Sirius beamed at them, then said, his eyes bright, "Blimey, can't believe Zonko's _just_ came out with these! Now we can help Snivelly stay smelly without him not taking baths. He can actually take a once-a-year-bath and _still _smell! Delightful things! Think of it…I've actually become a _helping_ person!" Sirius said, wiping away an imaginary tear, staring at the brown beauties in his hand.

"Seriously?" James asked, feeling delighted.

"Yes, of course! I've always been Sirius and will be. But my last name's Black. I thought you knew that. What's this rubbish about Sirius _Lee_? What an awful _non-color_ last name!" Sirius frowned.

"Ah, shut up, Padfoot," James said, grinning all the same.

"But—yes, he'll stay smelly, until—" Sirius quickly pulled out the instructions guide, "—he takes exactly twenty-two baths. That should be a while, eh? Possibly another twenty years at least."

"No," James said annoyed, "I meant the part where you said that Evans might like me if I read the stupid book."

Sirius blinked a couple of times. "Erm—well, I s'ppose so, yes. It's worth a try, right? I mean, she _is_ the only girl that's ever refused you, right? And you like her, right? Am I right? Hmm? Right?"

"RIGHT! Padfoot, SHUT UP!" James shouted, completely ticked off now.

Sirius just returned a glare and muttered to himself, "Prick."

James was still glowering when he slammed himself into his favorite squishy armchair by the now-extinct fire and flicked the book cover open.

James was barely keeping his eyes opened when he flipped to the 214th page. The students had all gone to bed now, but Lily was still in the bathroom.

"—Grimmulus MacIntyre was the highly acclaimed wizarde (who was also a Hogwarts Headmaster) who thought of putting an ancient spelle, which didn't allow wizardes or witches to Apparate or Disapparte inside the Hogwarts School of Magick and Witchcraft in 1429, twenty-six years before his noble death, during which he was the thirty-ninth Headmaster of Hogwarts.—" James read sleepily, wondering how in the world Lily thought this book was exciting. He absently flipped the pages, pausing only to glance at the old, wrinkled yellow pictures which was moving around magically. (Yes, I do know how to spell, it's just that old thing added 'e' and 'k's…for example, magick…I think it was supposed to be an old book…anyways, forgive me if it's not)

His hand stopped on a page. Page 737. The color of the object was brightly contrast to the surrounding moldy, aged pages. There was a folded piece of lavender-colored paper.

His fingers lingered only slightly before he tore the parchment open to see what it was inside.

His heart nearly stopped. It was Lily's Charms essay on the history on the Summoning and Banishing charms that was going to be due tomorrow. Lily had already finished it and exceeded the fourteen inches needed to two feet and six inches. However, at the very bottom corner of the otherwise innocent looking parchment were the letters JP. James acted like he was stupid, but in fact, his mind worked fairly fast. There were precisely three people in the whole school that had those initials. One was a rather dull Hufflepuff named Jennifer Portsmouth in her second year. James highly doubted that Lily would put her initials on her essay. The other belonged to an ugly, wart-covered, aging Muggle Studies professor—Professor John Pickleseimer. James also couldn't see Lily tracing the at least 90 years old teacher's initials. The third, obviously, was his. His heart leapt. Perhaps, Lily didn't hate him as much as she put on? James smiled smugly as he scribbled something else onto the corner, folding it back and sticking it back onto page 737. He silently blessed the page and closed the book, tucking it under his arm, his head oddly lighter since days.

He floated onto the stairs of the boys' dormitory happily, not noticing that Lily had managed to sneak back into the Gryffindor Tower.

Her face was burning bright red when she saw James depart with the book into the door of the boys' dormitory.

She stealthily climbed up the stairs behind him after a few minutes, praying he went to sleep. Luck was not on her side. She accidentally tripped over someone.

"_Stupefy_!" the voice roared, causing all hell to break loose.

Lily Evans was, as it seemed like, stuck in the boys' dormitory.

* * *

Author's note:

Ohh, poor Lils! The dear…ah, well, let's hope she gets out of the thing all right…hmm.

Ah, yes, any suggestions if you will? Comments, criticism? Review please! Thanks so much.

**Reviewers: **

:_Remmy ish mine_ : thanks, I totally agree with you. Eh…as for the year, let's say it's—it's ah--5th year. Hehe, sorry about that!

: _AimeeK_ : Wow! Four reviews from you! _I'm _excited! Thank you very, very much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

: _Owl and Crow_ : I'm glad you like this story! I try to update within a few days…usually two to three…thanks for returning to this!

Ah yes, **_My Taste of Ink_** has added me to her list of favorite authors, and I'm honored…greatly honored. Thank you.

And many, many hugs to **_AimeeK_** for putting this on her favorite stories list! Thanks!


	6. Maturity?

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

* * *

Author's note: James, James, James…what will I ever do with him? Yes, Lily is very much stuck in the boys' room…but how will the story continue? Read on…

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Six: Maturity?**

"_Lumos_," the voice whispered softly after he had stupefied the disturbance behind him.

The wand lit up to shine on an unconscious girl's body.

"Blimey! Evans—what the hell are you doing here in the nick of night?" the boy muttered under his breath as he laid an Invisibility Cloak onto her and laid her down on his bed, thanking silently that it was on the bottom.

"S'matter, Prongs? Snivellus attacking you? I'll duel him in a minute—I gotta finish this dream to see if I end up snogging her," Sirius muttered groggily, rubbing his eyes. He stifled a large yawn. There were a few other people murmuring things that James could not make out.

"Nothing, nothing, Paddy. I just tripped on myself—clumsy," James said hastily.

Sirius did not think anymore of it and returned to sleep, emitting a loud snore again.

"_Ennervate_," James murmured quietly, flicking his wand towards his bed.

Lily woke up and began to cough violently.

"_Silencio_."

Lily blinked a couple of times before her mind cleared. Of course. She was in the boys' dormitory. "Why, though?" she thought quickly as she saw James Potter in front of her. Her eyes rummaged through the dark and found the gleaming gold script, _Hogwarts, A History_ and immediately remembered. She had come back for her Charms essay with—yes, just her Charms essay.

James finally took the Silencing Spell off of Lily once he determined that everyone else was asleep.

"Potter," Lily began loudly before James patted the bed around him. He aimed in the higher open space and felt Lily's hair.

"Evans. Shut up," James said through gritted teeth as he felt her mouth.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Potter?" Lily yelped, pushing James's hand away from her face.

"Well, see, you have this thing called an _Invisibility Cloak_ on you and well, I can't exactly _see_ you, now can I?" James muttered, exasperated.

"Invisibilty Cloak?" Lily repeated, thunderstruck. "Why is it that I have an _Invisibility Cloak_ on me? Trying to smuggle me in your bed, were you?" Lily asked accusingly, her eyes flashing.

"No. The other guys might have seen you and that will lead to trouble, obviously," James explained smugly, beaming about the fact that he was explaining things to the supposedly brightest student in Hogwarts.

"Oh—yes—well, I—I—" Lily stuttered, blushing with embarrassment, glad it was dark and that James could not see through the Invisibility Cloak.

"Be quiet now, will you? Anyways. What are you doing in the boys' dormitory in the middle of the night?" James asked after Lily slipped the Invisibility Cloak off of her.

"I—I—" for a moment, Lily forgot her excuse. "—I was getting my Charms essay that's due tomorrow, and I didn't want to disturb you." Lily snapped, back to her old, confident self.

"Oh, is that so?" James asked, smirking slightly. "Is Charms _that_ important to you? Or is _something else_ important?"

"I have not the faintest idea what you're talking about, Potter. Hand it over," Lily scowled terribly, her pretty face distorted in anger.

"Ah. Well, I'm terribly sorry, my dear Evans. It seems that I have disposed of it. I thought it was rubbish y'know, from last week—didn't need it anymore," James shrugged lightly, not exactly knowing why he was being such a prick to her.

"Potter. I know you have it. _Please_ give it to me," Lily said with forced politeness, her voice straining.

"I might if you answer something for me," James grinned.

"Potter, if you want me to go out with you, the answer's the same—no," Lily glared at him, daring him to ask her out again.

"Actually, no, it's not. Something, ah—more _sensible_, if you will," James said.

"Evans. What is the precise reason," James began, "that you hate me so much?"

Lily blinked a couple of times before registering the question in her head.

"Reason?" she repeated, her voice suddenly going hoarse.

"Yes—_reason_," James said impatiently.

"You—you—Potter, you're just so—so, so—_arrogant_! You're so full of yourself and you tease and humiliate others for fun—it's absolutely disgusting," Lily said, a thoroughly sick look on her face. "Not that I really _hate_ you or anything," Lily said in a very, very quiet tone.

James didn't hear what she said because he was concentrating on Lily's face. How beautiful she was when she was looking thoughtful, happy, sad, shocked—hell, she looked pretty all the time, even when she was angry with him.

"Well, I suppose it'll please you greatly to be informed that I have officially given up on pursuing you, Evans. Good night," he said pompously as he led her silently out of the door, minding to step over the squeaking piece of floorboard.

There was no doubt about it. Lily Evans was shocked. Her eyes were extremely wide in surprise as James walked with her out of the boys' room.

James hurried back, wondering what in Merlin had possessed him to say what he said to Lily.

"Prongs. Were you being serious with her?" a voice asked quietly. A voice full of disappointment. A voice James recognized like the back of his hand. Quiet, sensitive Remus.

"Moony—I—" James started and noticed Remus was shaking his head rather sadly.

"I thought," he said, "that you _liked_ her. Didn't you say that you liked her like no other girl? You said that Lily was special to you. Why are you giving up now? When you've tried so many other times?"

"Now, listen to me, Moony—I—I," James said again, but found out he could not find any excuses.

"James. Go after her," Remus said in his same quiet voice.

James stared hard at Remus for a moment. He could tell that Remus was very serious since he had called him by his first name.

He was stepping into the Common Room before he spun around as if to tell Remus that it was stupid—completely ridiculous—Lily was in the girls' dormitory—there was no way he could get up there—when he noticed flaming red hair, glowing even more brightly red in the light of the hearty fire. It was Lily, sitting in his favorite squishy arm chair, head bent down, writing something James somehow knew was a Charms essay.

"Evans," he called out softly, not wanting to break the blissful silence between the two of them.

Lily's eyes darted and saw him. "Potter," she addressed acidly before attacking the parchment once more. She had already finished a paragraph, which was at least five inches.

James shuffled his feet so that he was now much closer to Lily.

"Here," he said gruffly, scooting the Charms essay he had kept in front of her new one, in case Lily started thinking that James was getting soft.

Lily blinked at her old essay. "I can't believe I didn't spot this before," she said, somewhat surprised.

"I just added it," James said hastily and once he saw the look on Lily's face, knew that she had not been talking about the thing he had written on her paper. "Never mind," James muttered, looking at the ground.

"This paragraph clearly needs revision…I'm glad that you gave this to me, Potter. Good night," Lily acknowledged James and bent down once more, concentrating hard on her essay.

James stood there, rooted to the spot. He was longing to burst out his feelings for her, knowing that she would be greatly horrified. He was biting his lip and ruffling his hair absently, habits he had.

His face was struggling on how to place itself. James finally just decided to smile. "I lied. I'm still going after you. G'night, Lily," he said quickly before running up the stairs.

Lily glanced at him as he left. She gave him a secret smile. He had called her Lily. James Potter was maturing.

Then her eyes wandered to the corner where she had absently written someone's initials. Her eyes widened. JP. _James Potter_. Then she noticed in miniscule, untidy handwriting, someone had written something else under it.

She swore angrily. James Potter had seen what she had scribbled onto the parchment and he had written back. _JP**+LE**_. The stupid, arrogant git. Lily ripped it off quickly and tossed it into the open fire. Lily watched with grim satisfaction as the piece of paper immediately withered into smoking ash.

She then remembered that it was _she_ who had written JP on that parchment.

"But why?" she thought silently. She had no romantic feelings toward Potter whatsoever.

"It was just a fluke. I was sleeping when I wrote that anyways," Lily managed to convince herself. But how was she going to convince Potter?

As if she would ever fall for that—that _prick_.

Right?

* * *

Author's note:

Well. Sorry I haven't put in anymore tactics yet…I will, don't worry, coming up next chapter, I believe!

**Reviewers**:

:_ Owl and Crow_ : This one wasn't as funny…but I'll add up another chapter soon!

: _AimeeK_ : Yep, James is just an arrogant guy, what can I say? I love him all the same though!


	7. An Insane Knight

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

* * *

Author's note: James now prepares to do another tactic…will he succeed? Ahh…just read!

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Seven: An Insane Knight**

"Hey, Prongs, I _did_ kiss that girl in my delightful dream. My quickest yet as well—a mere three seconds. I just said my name and she came zooming straight towards me," Sirius announced happily, having just woken up. He yawned hugely and stumbled towards the bed James was in, reading what James was writing.

"Blimey!" Sirius exclaimed, now eyes wide, "what the hell is that?" He asked, pointing to a stick drawing of a midget in glasses whose hair was drawn as rather spiky-looking and a girl with long wavy hair.

James's face burned. "Just another tactic."

"_Tactic_? You're starting on those again? Merlin—I was grateful for those two days of rest. Prongs, you're no stag—you're a _mule_. The most stubborn one I've met," Sirius said. He squinted at the drawing. "You're presenting a large porcupine to her? She likes those prickly little demons? Wacked."

"That," James pointed, annoyed, "is me. Now shut up."

"Ah, I see. Such a _clear_, well-drawn picture, I should say. People would know just _exactly_ what to do," Sirius said in a very sarcastic tone.

"I _said_, shut up!" James glared icily at him.

"Fine. Touchy. Don't ask me, the brilliant, never-failing-to-think-of-clever–ideas person, for help then," Sirius said, sulking as he leaned against the wood.

James ignored him, craning his neck to finish his plan.

Sirius let out a growl a few minutes later before he walked away furiously to breakfast.

James rolled up the piece of parchment and followed Sirius's steps.

As he entered for breakfast, James quickly looked around for Lily. He found her working on her Charms essay again, which was now about three feet and eight inches. He sighed as he walked over to her. This tactic should work.

"Evans," James greeted in a dull tone.

"Potter," she returned evenly.

"Will you go out with me?" James asked in the same monotone voice.

"What?" Lily asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Will you go out with me?" James repeated, still ever so dry.

"Is this some joke?" Lily asked him before James was whisked away by Remus.

"Sirius told me," Remus began, "that you were going to pursue Lily again. I must say two things on that subject. One, good thinking. Two, that tactic is never going to win her heart. What kind of tactic _was _that?"

"Well, since she didn't really take the romantic one too well, I thought that maybe she didn't like the sappy stuff," James shrugged, casting a glance at Lily, who was still dumbfounded.

"Did Sirius give you this thick idea?" Remus asked in a low voice, in case Sirius overheard. Sirius was staring at the two of them rather apprehensively.

James's face flushed. "No."

"Then how in Merlin did you come up with the foul idea?" Remus exclaimed, clearly puzzled.

"_I_ came up with it," James muttered, his face now bright red.

"I told you, Moony!" Sirius said as he folded his arms. "He wouldn't listen to my brilliant ideas—oh _no_, he had to go on with this idea that only _trolls_ would use!" Apparently, he was still mad over how ungrateful James had been thirty minutes ago.

"Now, listen, Padfoot! I just had—I just had to _make sure_, all right! I knew it wouldn't work anyways," James lied, retorting furiously.

"Think what you want, Prongsie," Sirius sniffed.

Remus sighed. "You two—shut up. Okay, seeing as Lily _does_ seem to be the more romantic type, we'll start planning tactics that might win her over."

"Fine," Sirius and James grunted and then threw each other glares.

"What's wrong with everyone?" Peter piped in after he had stuffed his mouth full of bacon. (Sorry, I forgot to mention him…not that he deserves any mentioning…the foul, bloody traitor…excuse me…)

The three Marauders groaned as Peter looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing!" they said in unison, shaking their heads madly.

Peter just shrugged before resuming eating the rest of the bacon. (I hope he snuffs it…gosh, this is kind of mean of me isn't it? Ah…oh well)

The other three bent their heads closely together, whispering the next tactic.

"I think," Sirius whispered, "that you should bestow upon her many lavish, wonderful gifts. That's _bound_ to soften her up!"

Remus nodded. "I agree with Padfoot."

"Why do you always seem to agree with Paddy now?" James said, irritated but agreed as well.

"I mean, you _have_ the money to give her all the presents, so use it to your advantage!" Sirius beamed, happy his idea was thought of as appealing.

"And—maybe you should make it out that you're her hero. My favorite little cousin, Meda, always reads the fluffiest romance novels, and they have the guys like charming heroes saving the oh-so-lovely, gorgeous princess or whatnot," Sirius said grimly, almost as if he were to say another word, he would heave up the contents of his not quite digested breakfast. (Meda is Sirius's nickname for Andromeda, by the way…that _is_ her name, right? His favorite cousin—the mother of Tonks?)

James considered this. "A hero?" he frowned. "I'm always a hero though—I've been helping Gryffindor win all those Quidditch games these years! What _else_ is that called?"

"Erm—yes, but I think that the 'hero' we're bearing in mind is to save your 'princess'—Lily—from danger," Remus explained, rubbing his temples, in fear of another headache coming.

"Oh. Right," James said, picturing himself in a suit of rusty armor.

Sirius paused a minute before breaking into a large grin. "Oh! How about _this_?"

"Brilliant!" Remus and James declared once Sirius had finished saying his plan.

"All right, so Paddy, take my Invisibility Cloak and plant some of them where Evans might be going next," James directed as he slipped the cloak into Sirius's hands.

"Yes, my dear Prongsie! Your princess will need some saving in about—oh, ten minutes or so," Sirius gave a wink and with a flourish, disappeared under the table.

A mental image of him as a hero popped into his mind again and he whispered to Remus, "Hold on a minute."

"Hurry, Prongs," he said before leaving swiftly.

James went into the hallway and waited for Lily to come by.

As if on cue, Lily _did_ arrive a few minutes later.

Sirius, who was hidden with the Invisibility Cloak, was in fact dangling on the stairway. He hovered a large pile of Dungbombs right in front of Lily, making her stop.

"What _is_ this?" Lily asked, as she got a waft of the smell. She scrunched up her nose and muttered, "_Evanesco_!" The Dungbombs disappeared.

"_Evans_! Never fear milady, your dear James is here!" James proclaimed haughtily, treading over rather slowly, his eyes covered with the overly large metal helmet he was wearing. He was walking two feet to the right of Lily before Remus turned him into the right direction.

Lily took one look at James and began to laugh. James had stuffed himself in one of the tarnished knight uniforms and was carrying a heavy silver sword that he was dragging on the ground.

"Yes, I know, you are smiling in pure delight and gratefulness, for I, Sir James Henry Potter the Second, your dear, brave, audacious knight in shining—er—somewhat shining armor anyway, have arrived to help my damsel in distress, in return for a blessed kiss from the lady. I am here to get rid of the evil items of darkness—the terrible _Dungbombs_!" James said with great emphasis after opening the vent in the helmet to see properly and also trying to straighten up but failing to do so as the vent shut again.

"Ah. Is that what they're called? Interesting," Lily stifled her giggles and gracefully left without another word.

"Evans, wait! I haven't gotten rid of the enemy yet! You have yet to be saved! Wait—" James shouted after her.

Sirius, still hidden with invisibility, now came up from behind James and smacked his armored head.

"Has that armor gotten to your head? You _thick_ imbecile! She's already vanished the '_terrible Dungbombs_'!" Sirius snorted as he chortled loudly, causing a few of the passerby to look strangely at James, whom they thought was talking to himself. Remus had left for class already, sighing on the way, knowing this was yet another tactic gone to seed.

"Ah, the first sign to insanity is talking to oneself," a wizard with a long, graying beard in a portrait frame said sagely, casting a look over at James.

"I haven't gone insane! Now shut up!" James bellowed angrily, chucking the armor aside.

"Everything—is—going—wrong—today! ARRRGH!" James chucked the last bit of metal on him—the giant sword—at the wizard in the portrait. The wizard immediately fled, no doubt telling other portraits that an insane boy was chucking things at them.

"Rubbish! This is complete rubbish," James muttered, glowering as he went to his first class, Herbology.

* * *

Author's Note: Ahh…poor James. I hope this was a good chapter…please review! Thanks. If you have any other ideas for either this story or want me to write another story, just tell me!

**Reviewers: **

: _Owl and Crow_ : Thanks for understanding…hope this chapter made up for everything! Thanks for still reviewing..


	8. Boxer Shorts

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

* * *

Author's note: James now prepares to do yet another tactic…bestowing large amounts of extravagant gifts upon his dear Lily…will Lily's heart finally soften up? Who knows? Well apart from me, of course!

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Boxer Shorts**

James walked into the greenhouse for his Herbology lesson in a very grumpy mood.

His eyes, however, caught sight of an exotic, but beautiful flower. Lily was sure to like it. He immediately seized the plant and tapped Lily lightly on the shoulder.

"This," he said in a deeper voice, trying to sound mature around her, "is for you."

Lily gasped as she saw the pretty flower, the colors of it changing with the tilt of the light—first it was a deep, bright pink—then a coral color. It _was_ very pretty indeed. Then an angry voice broke the silence.

"Potter! What do you _think_ you're doing? Carrying off my most-prized plant—the exotic Bulgarian Shiafostle that only veelas can grow! It is fertilized with veela hair—a most magical piece of hair! The one out of _five_ in the entire world—just _what--_? Oh yes, Potter, sorry—I knew it was yours—mine's locked away, of course," the professor immediately said after James stuffed a large amount of something into the wizard's pockets.

The professor walked away, his pockets jingling with a sound that was unmistakably golden coins.

Lily masked her delight at the plant and refused, handing it back to James.

"I can't take it, Potter," Lily snapped, forcing it into James's hands, which left James extremely frustrated.

James shrugged and then announced loudly, "A contribution to the Herbology class, Professor!" He then set the plant onto the table.

"Class, yes, your lesson for today: ah, looking at the Bulgarian Shiafostle! Thank you for the _generous_ gift, Potter. Twenty points to Gryffindor," the professor said.

James walked to the back of the class where Remus and Sirius had been watching him.

Remus was frowning. "I think I know what it is. It's the mere thing that Lily _knows_ you're giving the gifts to her, so she won't take them because she doesn't want to owe you."

"So, I guess I can just send them as a 'secret admirer' then?" James asked.

"That's a good idea," Remus said, looking quite surprised.

James grinned. "I'm not as thick as you think, Moony."

"I highly doubt that, Prongsie," Sirius muttered, earning him a swift kick to a very private place.

"Ouch!" Sirius cursed loudly. "I _do_ plan on having children you know!" He bent down in pain. "I hope they're all still there," he said, a worried look on his face.

James just kept on grinning.

o.O.o.O.o

"Lily, you have an owl waiting for you upstairs," a girl said as she saw Lily come through the portrait hole.

"Thanks, Arline," Lily smiled as she saw her.

"Welcome. It was carrying something mighty heavy as well. I think the poor owl is exhausted," Arline said, yawning as she scribbled a few more lines onto her essay, pausing to check if it made sense.

Lily glided over the steps, taking two at a time, and walked in her room.

The owl was indeed carrying a bulky package, wrapped haphazardly. Lily opened the small piece of parchment, which unlike the package, had been folded neatly into fours.

"—_Lily,_

_I hope you like these books I've picked out for you. Enjoy_.

--_Your very secret (or hopefully, rather) admirer"_

Lily stared at the piece of parchment for a long period of time before her senses came to her.

She opened the package and found two gleaming books, one on Charms—a book she had been wanting for the longest time and another on human Transfiguration—something she needed help with.

Lily glanced at the note again. She had a secret admirer. She had no idea who liked her. Other than, of course, Potter. But _he_ wouldn't give her these or write a polite note. Besides, it was not James's untidy handwriting, but rather an elegant one. It was someone else, she decided.

She was glad of this pleasant surprise and carried it around for the next few days as a comfort for whenever James bugged her again. She was excited that someone other than James liked her, for no one was worse than James. Then another few days later, two more secret admirers appeared. Lily felt blessed.

One had a loopy, large handwriting while another had small, faint writing. Lily stared note after note. The elegant one had begun to get flirty with her and Lily flirted back.

"_Lily dearest_—

_It would make me most happy for you to know who I am. You're the prettiest girl I've laid eyes on. Your eyes are the shade of a freshly pickled toad and the hair—oh, your hair is the most ravishing dragon blood red! Lily dear, tomorrow I shall meet face to face with you, for I can take it no longer._

_Love, _

_From your dearest secret (soon to be unsecret) admirer_

_P.S. Remember to read the Transfiguration book from cover to cover! You'll understand."_

Lily laughed. She didn't really like the pickled toad or the dragon blood part, but at least the boy was trying. For some reason, she got a glimpse of James in her head when she read the note.

She wrote back:

"_My dearest secret (soon to be unsecret) admirer—_

_I too, am very eager to see your charming face. Through our numerous correspondences, I have come to the conclusion that you are a dashing, wonderful person and I would love to meet you. Tomorrow it is. _

_Fondly,_

_Lily_

_P.S. Are you going to change into knickers or something? Anyways, I have read it thoroughly, I assure you. _

Lily went to class the next day, wearing a pink scarf the guy with the loopy handwriting had presented her, the emerald earrings that the guy with the tiny, faint handwriting had given, and under her arm was the book on human Transfiguration that the guy with the elegant handwriting had given her. However, none of the guys went up to Lily to claim that he was her secret admirer.

That evening, Lily stayed in the Common Room, hoping that someone would come up and tell her. Finally, at eleven o' clock, Lily gloomily went upstairs.

Lily noticed that on her bed was a pair of boxer shorts with Snitches hovering all over it. At first, she was slightly bewildered and disgusted before she remembered her letter.

Immediately, she transfigured the boxer shorts back into a human. Lily gasped.

"_You_!" Lily said, biting down a desire to scream.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me—who else did you think it was?" the boy asked impatiently, taking Lily's hand as they walked down the stairs. However, since the boy…was a _boy_, the stairs turned into a slide and chucked the pair down.

"But—but—it just _can't_ be!" Lily spluttered, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Well, believe it. I can quote every single thing in those letters you sent me—I iron them if I accidentally wash them," the boy said lightly, pulling out a wad of very flat letters.

(Okay, fine, I'll tell you guys who it is…as if you haven't guessed it…right?)

"It can't be you, Potter, I know your handwriting," Lily snapped.

"I know, which is why Moony helped me disguise it. He was about to throw up when I told him what to write after the first notes. They're not disgusting, are they? _You _seem to enjoy them anyways. Oh, and Paddy and Wormtail helped fake the other so-called admirers. You know, Evans, you _do_ think quite highly of yourself as well," James said, looking amused. "I guess I'm not the only arrogant one around here. What a match we make, eh?"

"I still don't believe you. Why go through all that nonsense and trouble?" Lily asked, angry with herself for being so gullible.

"Because I like you," James said simply and blinked.

"I can't believe I fell for—for _this_!" Lily cried out indignantly, and with a swish of her robes, she left the Common Room.

James called after her and seeing that she didn't hear, hurriedly ran after her. She was crying.

Lily had stopped in the middle of the hallway, her frame shivering with the cold draft.

"Here," James grunted, trying to sound manly, as he threw his cloak to Lily.

"Thanks," Lily said, not sounding as if she really wanted to thank him.

"I suppose you liked my gifts? You looked pretty today," James said quietly.

Lily didn't respond. She stood there as if she had been frozen.

"Why won't you go out with me, Evans? You could get so much!" James finally burst out heatedly.

"Like what?" Lily shot back at once.

"The honor of having me," James said stabbing his finger at his chest, looking important, "the number one most wanted bachelor at Hogwarts as your boyfriend—you could get popular since _I _so obviously am—you can get anything you want since _I _am so obviously rich—"

Lily cut him off, raging, "—I would degrade myself by going out with you—the world's most arrogant, stupidest git I have ever met—since _you_ so obviously are!"

James stared stupidly at her after she ran back inside the Common Room while James stood outside.

It was only after Filch started nosing around James went back inside, muttering something incoherent, but sounding very much like, "_Women_."

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay! Anyways, I've decided to split this story into two parts because I don't really want to make this a fifty chapter story…so I'm thinking that I'll make a sequel describing just exactly how James manages to deflate his overly large head…into the loveable guy he really is! Unless you guys want me to do this some other way…suggestions? So probably a couple more chapters on this story and it will be done. Very sad, but it's okay, because a sequel will be here soon after it's done…anyways, any ideas? Thanks for being such loyal readers and new people, welcome and I hope you enjoy this story.

**Reviewers: **

: _AimeeK_ : agreed. Sirius _is_ the best…I just love him.

: _IamSiriusgrl _: whoa! You gave me a review, added this to your favorites list, I'm on your alert list, _and_ C2s? (even though I'm not quite sure what that is…even though I'm greatly honored, thanks!) Thanks for all the compliments!

: _dramaqueen717_ : That's a good idea…I think I'll do that! Thanks.

: _Hershey.xoxo.Kisses _: thanks! Hope you read all the chapters!

: _Jillie_ : Yeah, everyone loves Sirius…who can't? Thanks!

: _Auramistealia _: Your name's pretty! Sorry, I just _had _to mention it…I'm happy that _IamSiriusgrl_ added this to the C2 group…but I'm not sure what it exactly is…) Thanks though!

: _Monica_ : Aww…thanks for all the compliments!

**Thanks to _IamSiriusgrl_ and _Moony June _for adding this to her favorites and also thanks to _MaronK _and _evilloveberry08_ for adding this to the alert list! **

Next chapter will be funnier…I promise!


	9. Lessons of Love

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: **MARAUDERS & CO ARE NOW IN THEIR SIXTH YEAR! SIXTH YEAR, I REPEAT! **

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Letters of Love**

James constantly pursued Lily for the remainder of the 5th year, but as soon as December came, Lily could not be found anywhere. She ate her food at painstakingly fast speed, sped to the library, and locked herself up in her room to study for O.W.L.S. Summer came and went…and the start of the new term: sixth year, is where we find our lovely characters.

"Ah! Hoggy Warty Hogwarts—my lovely pranking place! So glad to be going back—it was getting rather boring hexing ickle Regulus at home," Sirius's face darkened a shade after he remembered all the underage magic notices he received.

"Too right. I was very bored as well. How come you only came over to my house twice the _entire_ summer?" James asked, somewhat annoyed as the train jumped slightly.

"Parental problems," Sirius muttered darkly as he turned a shade pink after he readjusted his position.

James pretended not to hear and went on, "In fact I was so incredibly bored, I decided that I was going to write one hundred letters to Evans."

"_Love_ letters?" Sirius asked, looking very bewildered.

James's ears went slightly red as he muttered very quietly, "Yes."

"Well?" Remus asked, holding out his hand. "Let's see them."

Grudgingly, James opened a box sitting next to the window of the compartment that was protected with a series of strange-looking locks.

James tickled the ferocious lock that was attempting to bite off Sirius's finger as he yelped, and it whined softly before turning into a normal looking lock. James quickly turned the dials and it clicked open.

"Nice, eh?" James grinned at Sirius, who looked scandalized.

"My dear finger-poo!" Sirius said as he quickly showered kisses on his hurt finger.

James rolled his eyes as he dumped the large bundles of parchment onto Remus's outstretched hands.

Remus glanced at the letters, his eyes nearly popping out as he skimmed them. "You're complete _rubbish _without me telling you what to write, Prongs."

"Thanks for the compliment, Moony. I appreciate it greatly," James said sarcastically as he made for the letters.

Remus however, hung on to them, and began reading them out loud, "—_Evans, My summer has been quite delightful, thanks for asking. I know you haven't asked yet, but I have a feeling that you would. Now, let me tell you about my lovely summer. I have been practicing Quidditch for six hours daily and I have become even better. I know that seems hard to believe, but it is quite true. I've even knocked Sirius (the falsely acclaimed Gryffindor Beater) off his broom _("That's not true, you bloody liar! I was just bending over," Sirius glared)_, making _me_ the unstoppable, all-time Quidditch player the wizarding world has seen. I think I fancy myself as a Seeker. I've managed to find the Snitch in a mere 2.49 seconds. Impressive, eh? Yes, I do say so for myself, being ever so humble, of course._ ("That's because you **just** released it, you pillock!" Sirius retorted)_ Yesterday, I went to see the Quidditch match between the Wasps and the Dragonslayers. Luther Bagman was there and due to the very important fact that my parents (the great Aurors) are very rich and we had top-box seats, he shook my hand and signed my broomstick (the latest StarSweeper which costs about one hundred eighty-eight galleons—the most expensive one out there) for me, while saying that his son, Ludo Bagman of Hufflepuff, talked very highly of me and told him that I was an outstanding Quidditch player for Gryffindor. I'm quite sure you're nodding your head, agreeing to everything I'm saying, so I've decided to give this a try. Go out with me, Evans? Still nodding? I thought so. I knew you couldn't resist my irresistible good looks, my very godly (admit it) body, my great Quidditch skills, my brains, my wonderful hair, and everything else about me. I know that once we get back to school, you will come worshipping me at your knees, asking me—begging me—for forgiveness, which since I'm the ever-so-lovely and modest James Potter, will think about. Well, good day, Evans! Love, James"_

Sirius snorted. Remus had a pained look on his face, not knowing whether to laugh at James's pathetic so-called love letter or to explain to James that his attempt was fruitless.

Remus sighed. "Prongs, that—is—the—worst—love—letter—I've—ever—read. You did not mention _once_ anything about her, asking how she was and the such and you've talked about Quidditch the whole time. It makes me think that you are in fact in love with Quidditch and not Lily. The only good thing about the love letter is that you didn't send it!"

Sirius was laughing uncontrollably now, reading James's other attempts at love letter writing.

"This—is worse than that fake one about her eyes being the color pickled toads or whatnot—oh dear me—_'You are one of those Muggle white human birdy things that supposedly fly. They can't, can they?'_" Sirius chortled loudly, shaking with laughter as tears streamed from his eyes.

"Angels, you mean?" Remus supplied, looking amused himself.

"Ah, is that what they're called?" James asked, not a trace of embarrassment.

Remus sighed again, something he kept doing these days as James attempted to win Lily's heart over a couple of these…these…_letters_. He could feel a migraine coming and rubbed his temples furiously.

"What's so funny? These are _very_ romantic, are they not? _What_?" James demanded furiously of Sirius, who was now crying tears of mirth, doubling up in laughter.

"My dear Prongs, you need help," Remus sighed once more.

"Help? Oh no, I think I'm getting quite good at writing love-letters, thank you very much," James said, looking very offended as Sirius flapped his arms wildly. "In _fact_," James continued, choosing to ignore Sirius, "I'm giving these letters to her right now."

The laughter and sighing stopped. Silence. Then—

"You _must _be JOKING!" Sirius mouthed, his eyes in great horror.

"You can't—you just can't!" Remus spluttered, for the first time in his life, he was losing his calm composure and did not know what to say.

"They're _horrid_—the whole lot!" Sirius blurted out, still in shock.

"She's going to laugh her head off—or worse, she might murder you this time," Peter added. (The scoundrel..)

"I don't care. _I_ think that she'll enjoy them!" James snapped and left the compartment, banging the door shut behind him as he grabbed the large bundle of letters from Remus.

"He's gone _mental_," Sirius said in awe, looking at Remus, whose mouth was opening and closing soundlessly like a goldfish.

Finally, his mouth shut. "I'm worried. Lock the compartment door, will you, Padfoot? I have a feeling Lily might come killing Prongs, and I don't think we really want to be in the middle of it."

"You're right. Prongs may be my best friend, but when it comes down to my life or his…I think I'm enjoying my life right now, thanks," Sirius agreed and bolted the door shut as Remus muttered, "_Collorptus_", sealing the door shut snugly.

"Nice one, Moony," Sirius grinned as he saw James's face smack into the glass of the compartment, as if on cue. His eyes were wide and he shouted, "Open up—you dimwitted lot! I'm under attack!"

"Did you hear anything, Moony?" Sirius asked, looking away.

"Nope, I'm afraid not. Ah, poor Prongs. It seems that he left his wand _and_ his Invisibilty Cloak in here. What a shame," Remus said, grinning slightly as he looked on the floor.

(Okay, just a note here, they're not evil—but…James _did _kind of ask for it since he didn't listen to his friends' advice…just a bit of fun—they're still friends, don't worry…not doing a Wormtail…glares at the evil git)

By this time, Lily had caught up with James and tore his face from the window, cursing him into oblivion.

Then satisfied, she grinned at Sirius and Remus who waved back.

Sirius finally decided it was safe to take a peek outside and slid the compartment door open. James was sprawled on the floor, having been Stunned, Petrified, and also had a variety of hexes on him. James seemed to have sprouted extremely curly blond hair and an extra nose on his forehead. He was jinxed beyond recognition.

Sirius rolled him in and closed the door while Remus surveyed James with a small smile. "It seems Lily's rather good at hexes."

"_Ennervate_," Sirius said and James began to rouse.

He took off screaming. "Evans! Damn—she's spitting fire—help me! Let me—wait, I'm_ in_, aren't I? But—but—you guys _saved_ me from Evans, didn't you? I knew it, my two best friends in the world!" James sobbed out.

Sirius fidgeted uncomfortably before Remus broke in, "Eh, sorry, Prongs. You've _already_ been done in by Lily."

"Hand me a mirror!" James demanded, sounding exactly as he did that one time he had sprouted a large red nose from hitting the concrete floor.

"Y'know, this is like déjà vu. I _swear_ you've said those words…and I _swear_ that I would've said something like, '_Hand me a mirror! You sound like a girl!'_" Sirius said in an affected voice. "Perhaps you _are_ turning more feminine…I wonder."

"Shut up, Paddy. You better watch out now," James growled threateningly as he found his wand lying on the ground.

Sirius gulped. "Well, you see, Prongsie, I was erm—I was _trying_ very hard to coax Moony into letting you in—but, but—Wormtail said no!" Sirius hastily said, after seeing Remus eye him dangerously.

Peter emitted a loud snore, completely oblivious to Sirius's blame on him.

James took a look at Peter and sighed, lowering his wand. "You know perfectly well that I can't hex a guy when he's unarmed."

"Knew the nobleness would get to you, Prongsie! Excellent—now pray tell me, what was Evans's reaction when you gave her those?" Sirius asked, grinning.

James's face suddenly looked rather glum. "She took them—she was surprised at first and then I was standing there, waiting for her to read some of them and—well, she did. Only she was turned really, really mad and she kind of started throwing hexes at my back and I kind of ran for it, you know. I _did_ outrun her, you know." James finished, a smug look on his face.

"That's nothing, Prongsie, _I _for one, have beat you numerous times when we race," Sirius said pleasantly, ignoring James's glower.

Remus shook his head behind James and Sirius, cottoning on, quickly said, "Of course, that was a _very_ good attempt. At least you tried."

James's facial features relaxed and he turned thoughtful.

"Moony," he attacked, turning around, "what do you suppose my next tactic should be?"

Remus looked surprised. "Erm—well, I suppose that we could, erm—well—er—I have no idea," he confessed after a while.

"Maybe a song will do. Everyone loves music, right?" Sirius asked. (It seems that Sirius is the one coming up with the ideas…hehe)

"Yeah, I could—I could—what's the word—_serenade_ her with my very own love song! She definitely wouldn't refuse me after that!" James said, his eyes rapt with happiness.

Remus sighed. "I suppose we _could _try that."

"Of course we can! It's _my_ brilliant idea, if you've forgotten!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Tomorrow," James vowed as he sat down to write a love song with help from the brilliant Sirius and all-knowing Remus. Peter, on the other hand, slept on.

"Beautiful," James said, as he sniffed away a fake tear once they finished the song.

* * *

Author's Note:

Ahh…let me tell you something: I'm absolutely _terrible_ at song-writing…so I will make James a very sad song-writer, all right? Please tell me what you think. And if you have verses you want me to use, feel free to add them in your review! Thanks.

**Reviewers: **

: _Owl and Crow _: Yes, I agree with you. Lily _does _have a naughty side! Thanks.

: _IamSiriusgrl _: Thanks! Because of all your wonderful attachments, I couldn't wait to add this chapter up!

: _Auramistealia _: Thanks for explaining and the input, I appreciate it!

**Thanks to Owl and Crow for adding this to your favorites and Auramistealia for adding this to your alerts! **


	10. A Song Gone Wrong

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: James, James…he serenades Lily with his very own lovely song…enjoy!

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: A Song Gone Wrong**

"Attention, gather around, gather around! Thank you," James beamed, looking around. Lily was situated with force onto one of the armchairs in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"What do you want, Potter?" Lily growled, struggling against the chair.

"Sit still a bit, dear Evans. I have a very nice surprise for _you_," James flashed her a large smile.

Lily groaned as music began to play in the background.

"Music courtesy of Sirius Black with his harmonica!" James said, waving at Sirius who grinned.

"Charming, aren't I?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows at a nearby girl, who swooned into her friend's arms.

James cleared his throat and magnified his voice.

He sang. Oh yes, my dear, he _sang_. James sang along to one of the cheesiest tunes possible.

"_Ooooh, my dear Lily,_

_While you may think_

_This song is ever so silly,_

_I really haven't had anything to drink._

_You are oh, so pretty,_

_Your eyes are so bright,_

_Your fab red hair so shiny,_

_Pray do not forget—I am your handsome knight!_

_Your gorgeous smile melts me,_

_I love the fiery temper you possess,_

_You are the only girl I see,_

_Without you, I am a complete mess!_

_I've known it since I first saw you,_

_With your new cute wavy hairdo,_

_Yes, oh yes indeed, I am in love with you! _

_So my pretty Lily,_

_One question to ask of you:_

_Do you love me too?" _

After James finished, girls broke into hysterical sobs while some people applauded and whistled loudly. Lily was very red in the face.

"My dear Lily Evans, will you go out with me?" James asked, kissing her hand gracefully as he swooped down. Some of the girls, hearing this, immediately fainted.

"No! As long as you're still the arrogant prat you are, I'll never go out with you! Now get these stupid ropes off of me!" Lily said, squirming. She longed to go wash her hands with soap. The girls revived, now looking at James with renewed hope.

James vanished the ropes, and Lily got up, glaring coldly at him.

"This—was—the—most—embarrassing—thing—I—have—ever—encountered!" Lily burst out finally after struggling not to slap James, before rushing upstairs from amid the stares, whispers, and pointing.

"This is rubbish! I'm _James Potter_—the most attractive guy in the whole school, am I not?" James demanded the people surrounding him. The girls nodded furiously.

"Nope—sorry to break it to you, but according to the annual _Hogwart's Sexiest Guys_, conducted by all the girls at Hogwarts, **_I _**am the most attractive—you came second, dear Prongsie. But you only lost by a margin," Sirius informed, grinning happily at the information.

James was fuming silently. He would deal with Sirius later. For right now, he too, ran up the stairs to find Remus, who said last night that he knew something of the sort would happen.

"Moony!" James exploded. "If you knew this was going to happen, why didn't you stop me?"

Remus sighed. "It happens every single time. I don't need to be a Seer to know that Lily is going to refuse you _again_. Besides, I thought it would be good experience, Prongs."

James sighed as well. "Yes, it _does _seem to happen every time, doesn't it? Well, is there anything _else_ I can do?"

"Well, she seems like a very powerful businesswoman to me, so I think deals or contracts would be appealing to her. Do you have anything on her?" Remus asked thoughtfully.

"Blackmail-wise? Erm—no. But I do know that she hates it when I hex people—especially Snivelly—the nasty, slimy git. I mean, really, who cares if I take his knickers off or not? He's such a titchy ugly thing," James spat out, looking extremely disgusted as he remembered the lake incident a year earlier.

"That's it! You could make a deal with her! If she goes out with you, you'll never hex Snivellus again!" Remus cried out.

"That's a bit hard, though. I thought I could try that last year, but—you know what happened. I mean, I _do_ really like her, but never doing one of my favorite pastimes? You've got to admit, that _is_ a bit hard," James said.

"As long as _you're_ not the one hexing Snivellus, you'll be fine," Remus pointed out.

A moment later, it dawned on James. "I know what you mean—you and Paddy could still hex him, right? Yes, that seems all right then…as long as I can still give some pointers! Merlin knows that I'm still the best at hexing!" James grinned.

"How's this?" James asked of Remus after he finished writing the contract. He had already signed it.

"Nice. It's good to have loopholes to go through, isn't it?" Remus asked, smiling.

"I'll go give this to her," James said, grinning as well.

James knocked on the door of the girls' dormitory, grinning at his genius.

His beloved redhead opened the door. "Potter! What? How can you—_oh_. That's—that's a brilliant idea," Lily said, praising him reluctantly.

"I know isn't it? If you're James Potter, you can do anything," James smiled smugly as he hovered above the ground with his broomstick. (smart, eh?)

Lily scoffed at his words, her eyebrows raised and her face cast in disbelief.

"Anyways, Miss Evans, I have come here to present you a contract. As long as you go out with me, I won't lay a toe on Snivelly again," James explained, showing her where to sign.

"Oh, I'm _sure_ you wouldn't, Potter," Lily said sarcastically before slamming the door in James's face. James frowned.

A boy's pride could only take so many blows a day, and James slowly flew back to the boys' dormitory. He rolled off his broom onto his bed.

"Well? How did it go?" Sirius asked as soon as James entered.

"How do you know about the whole plan?" James asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Remus filled me in," Sirius said promptly.

Remus came out of the bathroom and looked expectantly at James.

"Bad—she slammed the bloody door in my face. Horrid. I bet people will be laughing their heads off on that one," James said sourly.

"Ah, it's all right, mate," Sirius said, trying to assure him as Remus nodded.

James's eyes suddenly darted at Sirius. "That reminds me…" He lunged at Sirius, tackling him down. Remus jumped out of the way.

James then hexed him, causing his silky ebony hair to turn into a frizzy mass of bright green hair. Remus chuckled lightly.

James stood up, pocketing his wand, and brushed 'dirt' off his robes, looking pleased at his work. "_That_ is what you get for trying to say that you beat me on the _Hogwart's Sexiest Guys_. Which you didn't, of course. My fan club made sure of that."

The mirror, who usually liked Sirius a lot, and also who James thought had a crush on Sirius, sounded revolted. "That hair does not suit you, my dear. Green does not go well with you, however handsome you are. You poor little lamb! What a dreadful act to do to such a charming person!"

Sirius just glared at him after he noticed his hair in the mirror. "This is _Slytherin_ hair, Prongsie! And you made it all frizzy and curly! That's just mean. You can't do this to me! I'm your best friend, remember? The one that ate mud pies with you when we were ickle inklings—the one that cursed Snivelly into almost taking off his nasty graying knickers by the lake that one time—the one that's trying to think of moronic ideas to help you get your girl!" Sirius whined, scowling at his reflection.

"Serves you right," was all James said as he took out his Snitch that he snitched a couple days ago and let it wander. It zoomed through Sirius's mass of green, wiry hair as Sirius batted crazily at it.

* * *

Author's note:

Yes, not as funny…I seem to be running out of ideas…I think one or two more chapters left…I'm so sad…but at least there will be a sequel…! Thanks.

**Reviewers: **

: _IamSiriusGrl _: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this!

: _Auramistealia _: Oh wow, I love your lyrics! I should have used them…but I don't want to steal them, hehe. Thanks for the great lyrics though! I'll post them here for other people to read:

"You are my only love, my sprite-  
I'd love to declare my undying love  
While you're hanging over a bottomless pit  
And then I think I'd rescue you.  
Your eyes look like doves-  
Well, if they were dyed green.  
And your hair is flaming like your temper.  
I wish you weren't so mean."

: _rchlptl90 _: I love that song! Ever since I was a little kid—it _is _an excellent song, but I wanted James to make something crazy and silly up…thanks for the idea though—I might use it in future stories! Thanks!

: _Owl and Crow _: Er…I'm not sure if that spelt right or not…you probably did…oh well, thanks anyways! I'm blushing with all your compliments—thanks.

: _AimeeK _: Thanks!

**Thanks to dobbey92, ravenclaw123, rchlptl90 for adding this to their favorites and dobbey92 and rchlptl90 for adding this to their alert list! **

**Over 1300 views! Thanks you guys! If only they were reviews…**

The next chapter will be up tomorrow…I promise.


	11. Poor Prongs

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: James gets sick…Poor thing…this is almost the end! So sad!

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

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**Chapter Eleven: Poor Prongs**

James woke up with a fever and began coughing loudly. He groaned. On top of everything, he had a headache as well. He had gotten himself sick. Great. The only good thing was that it was the weekend, and he didn't have any lessons. As for the homework…well, who cared?

He sat up in his bed and sighed. It was his sixth year and he _still _hadn't been able to capture Lily's heart. Things were getting out of hand. It didn't help much for the fact that he was running out of ideas or as Remus called them, 'tactics' to win her over. Life wasn't as swell as it used to be.

It was interesting. For the past few days, James had been feeling somewhat weird. For one, every time he hexed the person who turned the corridor before Charms, he didn't feel a lot of excitement, like he used to. He didn't hex Snivellus as much as he used to and his pranking ideas had fallen behind. He didn't know what had gotten into him. Finally, last night, Remus came up with an idea that might explain what had changed him. Lily. Remus suggested that James had actually fallen in love with Lily and because Lily wasn't his, he was moping around and wasn't enjoying his favorite things to do.

Last night, James had argued with Remus. Love? He had scoffed. Sure, he had a crush on Lily, but love? That was taking it a bit too far, he had said.

But as he woke up this morning, sick, but his mind clearer than ever before, he knew. Remus was right. He _had_ somehow fallen in love with her. Weird. The mere fact made him feel older, more mature in a really crazy way.

Sirius had woken up. "Morning, Prongs! Let's get going for some early Quidditch practice!"

"Noo, don't make me—I'm sick, I have a fever, I have a _headache_, and I don't want to get out of my comfy, warm bed with my nice, fluffy pink pillow—noo," James moaned, stuffing his head under his pillow before coughing again.

Sirius dressed into his Quidditch uniforms and said casually, "Well, I heard that Evans is coming to the game next Saturday and well, you know, if you _really _don't want to go practice now and if you make a bloody fool of yourself next weekend, well, suit yourself."

James sat up. "Really?"

"That's what I _heard_ dear Prongsie. But I _do_ have excellent hearing, now don't I?" Sirius said delicately, straightening his robes.

"I'm dressing—meet you out in the field in ten minutes," James said as Sirius walked out of the room, twirling his broom expertly.

"See you there," Sirius called back, grinning to himself. James was a lovesick fool.

Fever or not, James was out there in the Quidditch field in exactly eight minutes and forty-two seconds.

"That was a record, Prongsie!" Sirius said, grinning as James came sprinting over with his broom. (stupid, he could have flown…wait…I could've wrote that…oops?)

"Thanks—must—practice—in—case—she—shows—up!" James managed to get out between breaths and coughs.

"Ah, I thought so," Sirius nodded knowingly and released a Bludger and a Quaffle.

The two balls immediately flew in the air, nearly knocking together, and Sirius and James zoomed closely behind them.

o.O.o.O.o

"Do you think I'll impress her any today?" James asked desperately before coughing violently.

"Relax, Prongsie! Why haven't you gone to see dear old Poppy yet? She can cure that in a minute—don't be stupid, Prongs. Go before the game, all right?" Sirius asked, looking at James who was feeling somewhat faint.

"I'm fine! I can't make a fool of myself right before the game! I'm fine, really!" James said, irritated, as he polished his broom handle absently.

"And the Annual Gryffindor versus Slytherin game will begin in approximately five minutes! Players, please report to the field!" the commentator burst out.

James paled slightly. "I'll be fine…I hope."

Sirius gave him a pat on his back. "There, there, dear Prongsie! Where did your confidence go?"

"Evans stole most of it," James replied dully and the two went off for the field.

During the game, James could not concentrate properly. He kept seeing zooming balls but he couldn't seem to catch any of them. Once or twice, he saw a flash of red and knew that Lily was sitting at the very front, able to watch his every move. His broom was getting slippery from his sweat and he strained to look for the Quaffle to score.

Suddenly, he noticed a Bludger shooting straight for a red-headed girl. Lily, he thought desperately. He shot a look at Sirius, who was off gloriously battling another Bludger and knew the other Beater, Howards, wouldn't get there in time. Without hesitation, he did a brave, but very stupid act. He zoomed in front of the Bludger and used himself to block the Bludger.

His fall seemed to take the longest time. He knew that at least two of his ribs were cracked and on top of his coughing, it was nearly impossible to breathe.

Finally, he crashed to the ground with a sickening thud.

o.O.o.O.o

"Oh dear. Poor Prongs. I think he thought that the girl was Lily or something—he wouldn't have risked his life for some other girl," Remus said softly, looking at the terrible state James was in.

"I _told_ him to go see Poppy to cure his cough. Idiot. Stupid, lovesick idiot," Sirius muttered as guilt swallowed him up. He should have seen the Bludger and gone to help out. He should have looked around to see where the other one went.

"At least he has a new admirer now," Peter said stupidly, looking longingly at the mountain of sweets the redhead he had saved had sent him. (I hope he eats it all and snuffs it, or worse—I mean, even _better_—the candy's hexed with things like Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes _and_ then he dies or something…haha, sorry)

Immediately Sirius and Remus began yelling at him, as they were fed up with his lack of sensitivity and his stupidity.

"—If you're talking about that stupid bimbo redhead—"

"—Meredith Everson, third year—"

"—Who's _always_ had a crush on Prongs—"

"—And is now _worshiping _his every move—well, not every _move _right now, he can't exactly move, but—"

"—Besides, Prongsie doesn't give a damn about that girl—"

"—He likes Lily. He wouldn't care about anyone else—"

"—And if you're saying that you want those sweets—"

"—Are you saying that you think Prongs is lucky to have nearly _died_ to get them?—"

"No, no! I'm sorry—I didn't mean anything!" Peter squeaked out, terrified, moving away from the sweets.

James let out a small moan of pain, breaking the tension.

"Prongsie, buddy, you all right? It's all my fault—I should have checked around and told Howards to go after it," Sirius said mournfully.

"Prongs, that was very brave of you to save her," Remus said quietly.

"She—she's all right?" James coughed.

"Yeah, Evers—"Sirius began but Remus quickly stepped on his toe, shutting him up.

"Yes, _Evans_ is all right," Remus covered up.

"But don't you usually call her Lily, Moony?" James asked, looking confused.

"Er, yeah, I was just finishing what Padfoot was saying—he needed to ah, tie his shoes," Remus lied, nudging Sirius in the ribs.

"Oof! Erm—yeah, what Moony said," Sirius said, nodding, as he clutched his side in pain, forcing a smile. Then he bent down and rummaged around his shoe, which were lace-free.

"Just a nickname you know, Evers—Evans," Sirius shrugged as he lied pathetically. It was a good thing that James was too relieved to notice.

"That's good—as long as Evans is all right," James tried to sigh, relieved, but it turned into a hacking cough.

Sirius and Remus shot each other a guilty look before Sirius said in a hoarse voice, "Have a good resting—I mean sleeping—erm—well, just erm—rest up, all right? So you can see Eva—_Evers,_" Sirius said hastily, looking away.

"That's right—so I can see Evans's grateful face when she sees me—I can see it—she's on her knees, begging me to let her be my girlfriend. She looks so happy. Maybe she'll give me a kiss for being her audacious hero," James said, smiling a bit before falling into a blissful sleep.

Sirius looked like he was about to snort as James said the word 'audacious', then adding something like, 'I didn't realize that you could say three syllable words,' but he decided that he didn't want to break James's happy mood. He sighed.

"Poor Prongs," Remus sighed as well as they left James in the Hospital Wing to sleep undisturbed.

o.O.o.O.o

"That was really quite unlike him back there. I would have thought the first thing that popped out of his mouth would be asking for the game results. Thank Merlin Covington (the Gryffindor seeker) managed to find the Snitch in time, or else we would have lost without Prongs scoring. Talking of which, Prongs was kind of out of it, don't you think? He couldn't seem to find the Quaffle much," Sirius said thoughtfully, pondering as he scratched his chin absently, while the two walked back to the Gryffindor Tower. Peter had gone somewhere else after the two ranted at him.

"I was watching from the grounds. He didn't seem to be doing much effort—once, there was this Quaffle just _sitting_ right next to his broom, and he didn't pick it up—didn't even _notice_ it—But he _did _look really sick," Remus added, walking slightly slower to allow Sirius to catch up.

"I know. It's all my fault. He said he was really sick that day I made him go out to practice with me. I should have let him rest or something. It's all my bloody fault," Sirius moaned, letting the guilt swallow him up, stooping against a wall.

"Padfoot, it's all right, get up. You know that Prongs wouldn't blame you," Remus said, trying to assure him as he pulled him up.

"Which is why I feel even worse. I only hope that Evans will play along to the story that he saved _her_ and not that stupid fluff—Everson, or else Prongs is going to be so mad, he'll knock his 'I love Lily' knickers off," Sirius groaned as they kept walking until they finally arrived at the Common Room.

Author's note:

Aww…I think one chapter, and I'll be done. Then…sequel! Wahoo! Be prepared, there's going to be a really long author note next time…sob

Thanks you guys.

**Reviewers**:

: _phantom radio _: hmm…it seems that left you out of my reviews—you only showed up in my emails…anyways, thanks, and I'll be waiting!

: _IamSiriusGrl _: Thanks.

: _Auramistealia _: You _poor _thing! That must have been a living nightmare…I suppose that that's one memory you wouldn't mind if you forgot? But that was excellent with the part you whacking him with your locker door…I can just imagine it…I might take a leaf out of your book sometime! And as for Prince Charming…I have no idea…mine hasn't seemed to arrive either…sigh..

: _cylobaby _: Yeah, I know, Sirius should have won, gosh…Sirius's a hottie! Hehe, thanks.

**I have a new story up called the _Room of Requirement_...I need to know if I should continue it or not and it's another read for until I post the final chapter of _Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans_...I hope you enjoy it! Thanks. **


	12. Realization

Ways to Ask Out Miss Lily Evans

By: neen

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Author's note: Aww…last chapter!

Hope you all like this! Please review as well…(I accept anonymous reviews, so no need to login if you don't want to…and guests, you can review now too!)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Realization**

Lily paced back and forth in the Common Room, sometimes stopping to glare at the offending fire. She was arguing with herself mentally and nearly docked points off of people for coming inside the room.

"It's his own bloody fault that he went and got his stupid bloody self injured," Lily muttered under her breath, convinced, pacing quickly.

Then, her inner voice shot back, "Lily Marie Evans, you know full well that he hurt himself to save you. Go _thank_ him!"

"He's still a stupid prat for doing that!" Lily argued passionately, her voice rising. People stared at her a minute before Lily glared coldly at them, making them scurry away.

"Albeit a stupid, _noble_ prat that likes you enough to use himself to save you. _Go_!"

"Fine! This is what I get for having a stupid consciousness!" Lily threw up her hands in defeat and departed for the Hospital Wing.

o.O.o.O.o

Lily sat down in the stiff wooden seat after assuring Madam Pomfrey that she was indeed James Potter's friend. She nearly gagged herself as Madam Pomfrey turned around. Friends, she scoffed. And that'll be the day when Sirius Black turns ugly.

Lily looked at James, who was still sleeping soundly. She couldn't help but notice that James looked innocent—vulnerable, even, just sleeping like that. "Innocent," she muttered, snorting as James yawned, turning his face more towards Lily.

"Idiot," she murmured, her heart softening some.

James stirred a minute later. He opened his large hazel eyes, blinking a few times. Lily then noticed that he didn't have his glasses on. She fetched them off the table sitting next to him and said half-heartedly, "Here."

James quickly put them on to see who the speaker was.

"_Evans_? Well, not really _that _surprised, I suppose. Been sitting there for me, your savior, to wake up for Merlin knows how long, haven't you? Come to thank me for saving your dear life? I wouldn't charge that much if you kissed me as well—perhaps five galleons if you're really good," James said off-handedly, giving her a superior grin.

Lily sniffed indignantly. "Actually, Potter, I've been sitting here for less than three minutes and yes, I've come to thank you for _attempting_ to save my life and saving _someone else's, _and I'm not kissing you, I like my lips, thanks," Lily said, trying to control her temper and stood up quickly, turning to leave.

James held on to her wrist. "What?" James looked confused and Lily turned back around.

"You heard me, now let me go, Potter," Lily said through gritted teeth as she tried to pry James loose.

"What do you mean I attempted to save you and saved someone else?" James asked, his face expressionless. For someone who had broken three ribs and had taken a sixty-feet fall, his grip was surprisingly strong.

Lily stopped struggling and gave him an impatient sigh. "You're really rather stupid, Potter. Only your nobleness could have made me think twice and come up here to thank you. I think that you thought that _I _was going to be hit by the Bludger, when in fact I was at the opposite side. You saved another redhead—Everson or something, I think—a Hufflepuff third year," Lily explained and James slowly loosened his grip. Lily massaged the spot where James had left red finger marks.

"Goodness, Potter. Anyways, get well soon or something…I've found that your childish antics have proved to be somewhat comical. Good day," Lily said eloquently and left.

James stared at her. Why hadn't Remus or Sirius told him about this? He had made a bloody fool of himself yet _again _and Lily wasn't going to ever like him.

Suddenly, a flash of red hair caught James's eye. His heart leapt. Perhaps Lily was back and was telling him that everything she said was an innocent joke of hers. No harm.

It was Meredith Everson. James sighed. Great. Things were just dandy.

She was blushing and her wild red hair was untamed, in frizzy large curls, most unlike Lily's straight, shiny hair. James groaned. How could he ever have thought that Meredith was Lily? For one, Lily was about ten times as pretty as this fluffy and rather unattractive Everson girl. He shook his head. He must have been really sick that day.

"James? Did you get my sweets? I've brought some more for you. I think you're wonderfully, so _incredibly_ amazing to have saved me! You're my hero, James and I want to thank you deeply for saving my life!" Meredith gushed out and bounced over to James, trying to give him a kiss on the cheek.

James was not one of the best Chasers the Gryffindor Quidditch team had seen for nothing. He had excellent reflexes, my dear. Which is why three seconds later, Meredith Everson was head down in the trashcan near the door while James hummed cheerfully and seemed suspiciously innocent.

"James—get me out of here! Did you see what happened? I think it was one of those Wind-Sucking Paper Wads that people talk about. Maybe someone threw it in this trashcan. Oh Merlin, James—save me! The trashcan's trying to eat me or something! My _hair_!"

James hid a grin. "Don't worry, Everson, it's just trying to recycle you. In two years, you'll be as good as new."

"In _two_ years! Merlin, please, James—save me!"

"Sorry, Everson, I would _love_ to, but it seems that I am in fact confined in this bed, and I'm ever so sick—I can't _move_," James gave a fake moan.

Madam Pomfrey bustled out, trying to see who dared to make a racket in her Hospital Wing.

"You! Trying to see if the poor old trashcan will recycle you? Idiot girl!" Madam Pomfrey gave a giant heave and pulled Meredith out. Her long hair had gotten chopped off into something that almost resembled a mohawk. Too bad they didn't know what those were.

"Out—out of here at once! Trying to disturb my patients here! Nonsense," Madam Pomphrey said huffily and turned to James, her voice becoming much more gentler, "You! Are you all right, dear? I hope that racket didn't disturb you—things aren't usually that loud here at all—that was just a fluke—don't worry, dear, I'll make sure that she never enters here while you're in here. Now lay down and take some more of that medicine."

James grinned and helped himself to some of the medicine, which surprisingly, tasted like strawberries. Then, feeling much better, he helped himself to some Sugar Quills, some of which had broke.

As he sucked on the end of it, he calmed down. He then remembered the incident with Lily and sighed. He _was_ a bit of an idiot—no, he _was _one.

"Evans will never like me," James said mournfully to the air. After a whole evening of self-doubt and losing the rest of his confidence, he slept uneasily.

The next morning, Remus and Sirius came back to see James and showered upon him many love letters and even _more_ chocolates from Everson who believed that her dear James had attempted to save her yet again.

James stared glumly at the sweets in their hands and sighed.

"Why the long face, Prongs? I know you're a stag—but, really," Sirius commented.

James's face turned sour. "Evans—she came yesterday and I made a bloody fool of myself in front of her, as usual. How come you guys didn't tell me that I saved Everson instead of Evans?" James asked angrily, glaring each of them down.

"Well—erm, you see," Remus began.

"Well, yeah, we—er," Sirius started.

"Never mind. I don't really care any more. It's not like Evans will start liking me all of the sudden," James said, a depressed expression on his face.

"Well, at least Lily came to see you. She could have _not_ come," Remus pointed out, trying to find some good in it.

"That's because she's nice. It has nothing to do with me," James said dully, fingering the sheets.

"Oh, Prongs, old pal, don't say that—it's depressing to see you like this," Sirius said, frowning.

"I think—it's time for drastic action. Are you willing to change for her, James?" Remus asked seriously.

"What do you mean?" James asked, still looking very miserable.

"I think he means that it's time to puncture that inflated head of yours a bit, Prongs," Sirius offered.

Remus nodded. "That—is what Lily would like to see. I'm sure she cares for you deep, _deep _down, but because of your attitude, she's not that willing to show it."

Suddenly, James straightened up. "That one time when I gave her a song—she said that as long as I'm still the arrogant prat that I am, she'll never go out with me. So, all I have to do is stop being arrogant right?"

"And a prat," Sirius reminded.

James's smile faltered a bit. "You think this will work?"

"Of course! We all know that Paddy here is an expert on the art of wooing women," Remus smiled.

"Oh, stop it, Moony, you're making me blush. It's ruining my complexion," Sirius grinned good-naturedly and swatted at Remus's head, who, due to not having James's extremely quick reflexes, got hit.

"And I know some manners, I suppose," Remus said modestly, looking thoughtful as he massaged the place Sirius had hit him.

Sirius grinned. "Stop being so humble now! You're the perfect gentleman, Moony!" Sirius roared.

"So, I'm set?" James started to smile as well.

"You're set," Remus and Sirius confirmed firmly, nodding their heads in unison.

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Author's Note:

You guys do not know how much I loved writing this story, knowing that there are actually some living people out there reading it, and also giving reviews, which I'm ever so grateful for. Yes, this is the end, my friends. Be prepared for a sequel though, which the tentative title is going to be **Winning Miss Lily Evans Over**. If you have better titles, please feel free to include them in your review.

It's been great reading your wonderful reviews and writing this. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing this. I have gained a lot of input from this and I'm really happy about that.

Gosh, this is really so sad for me. Thank you guys for being such wonderful readers, reviewers, critics—I love you guys so much! I have always eagerly anticipated opening the Stats every time I log in and the reviews surprise me each time. Truth to be told, I was expecting more reviews, but that's all right—I'm lucky to have gotten any.

I want to give a very big THANK YOU to every single person that's tried out this story and great big hugs to my awesome reviewers! Not one flame! Thank you so, so much, you guys. Much love!

Till I write again,

Neen

**While you're waiting for the start of the sequel, please check out my new story, The Room of Requirement**! Thanks!

**reviewers:**

: _IamSiriusGrl _: excellent suggestion, but Lily's smart and she feels guilty, so that's all good. Thanks for being such a wonderful reviewer!

: _AimeeK _: yeah, I loved that part too!

: _Owl and Crow _: Thanks!


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